Social Impact and Responsibility

➵ ARTISAN MADE WITH AN IMPACT

Hiptipico is dedicated to changing the way people shop. Our customers are seeking an alternative to factory-made designs, they care about the humans behind their purchases and want to have a positive impact in the world. When you shop with Hiptipico, you know the authentic story of the artisan who made your product and the traditional technique and materials used to craft it. Through this dignified job opportunity, indigenous artisans partner with Hiptipico to lift themselves out of poverty while doing something they love.

 

Ethical Trade


Transparency

To us, ethical is more than a label, it’s the way we conduct ourselves. We make it our obligation to be transparent and honest with both our artisan partners and customers about our process and giveback behind our operations. Being located full time in Guatemala allows us to regularly visit our artisan partners and cultivate honest relationships built on trust and mutual respect. We do our best to relay their authentic stories respectfully and accurately to our customers. In fact, we are so proud of our transparency that we’ll give you a tour inside our artisan’s workshop to see the handmade process firsthand. Learn more about our Ethical Travel opportunities to visit us on the ground in Guatemala.

Fair Wages

Hiptipico partners with local artisans in Guatemala to source, create and design our handmade collection. Offering fair wages and above adequate price per item is of utmost importance to us. In order to ensure fair earnings, we allow our artisans to set their own prices. We ensure all of our artisan partners have received training and support around budgeting for raw materials and pricing appropriately their hourly salary that exceeds the local minimum wage. Our individual artisans exercise control in determining the piece rate, and our cooperatives are worker-owned organizations that share the profits as a collective.

Non-Factory Working Conditions

In Guatemala’s rural indigenous communities, women don’t traditionally work outside the home. Partnering with Hiptipico allows our female artisans to determine when and where they work. Many of our female artisans choose to comfortably work from home and make their own hours. This flexibility allows them to care for their families while bringing in an additional income in their spare time. Our male leather workers also create their own hours and produce at their own pace. Most of them are close relatives, cooperatives made up of brothers, uncles and cousins working in small home workshops.

Empowerment


Autonomous Decision-Making

At Hiptipico we foster an environment for our artisans to make decisions for themselves and empower them to use their voice. Not only do we ensure our artisans honor their own pricing, we encourage them to maintain their personal design aesthetic. We see our artisan partners as designers and collaborate with them to create market-ready products. When it comes to design, Hiptipico doesn't interfere with our artisan's creative process, which results in a totally authentic taste of indigenous traditions and artistry.

 

Community Support

Hiptipico’s community involvement is multidimensional. While our main objective is to create a sustainable avenue for our partners to support their families, we also want to build a stable support system to guarantee their continued success. Life in rural Guatemala is extremely precarious, exacerbating the cycle of poverty. From inadequate health care services to natural disasters there are many unforeseen obstacles our artisan partners endure. Hiptipico provides emergency funding for medical bills, schooling fees and personal financing to our artisan partners. With limited access to financial institutions, families frequently need a loan to get back on their feet. This is the additional support we provide to bridge the gap and end the cycle of poverty.

A Message from our Artisan Partner

 


Environmentally Conscious


Reducing Waste

At Hiptipico, we pride ourselves in being part of the Slow Fashion movement. Our entire collection is artisan-made, meaning small batches in home workshops with minimal waste. The majority of our bags and accessories are sustainably made using upcycled fabric that we source from the local textile market. We choose to reuse already woven textiles instead of commissioning artisans to create more. This saves these gorgeous traditional indigenous garments from going into landfill and avoids waste created by the production of new materials.

Natural Dyes

Our natural dye collection showcases the indigenous Maya Tz’utujil dyeing technique. We partner with a women’s cooperative in San Juan La Laguna that uses purely natural ingredients to create their handmade items. Passed down from her grandmother, these ancient techniques use plants to dye the cotton fabric making these products 100%  natural and environmentally friendly. To dye their fabrics, the women use an array of natural tints found in plant leaves, barks, vegetables and fruits like coconut shells, pepper, and achiote. The cooperative has joined together with women of the Maya Tzu’tujil community to keep this beautiful traditional art alive.

Animal Friendly

We appreciate the increased global interest in veganism and are dedicated to offering synthetic leather options to our customers. Providing vegan options is a direct action we take to ensure an immediate, real-world impact on animals and the planet. Not only does vegan leather make you look good, it also makes you feel good because it’s cruelty-free.

B-Corp Certified

Hiptipico is a certified B-Corp from 2016 - 2021 which is a private certification issued to for-profit companies that authenticates social impact. As a certified B-Corporation, Hiptipico meets rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. In 2018, Hiptipico was named the #1 BCorp in Guatemala and made the top 5 list of social enterprises directly impacting the community in Central America.

 

≫ ∙ ≫ Learn more about our handmade process and how our products are carefully crafted here.